FCB India and Networkbay launch 'Retail: Day 1'

FCB India has collaborated with Networkbay to launch ‘Retail: Day 1’, an initiative to work with brands and retailers to ‘manage, redefine and transform’ their retail experiences post Covid. 

 

This follows a survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF) in the USA. FCB and Networkbay believe the human sentiments resonate with the changing behaviour across the globe.

Nine in 10 consumers have changed their traditional shopping habits.

Networkbay's co-founder, Hozefa Attari, also stated how the following industries will be hampered by Covid-19.

 

Automobile:

Dealerships were struggling before Covid-19 hit. Post, Covid there's an opportunity to completely change the customer experience. We're seeing online shopping for the sector already, but in the future we could see a 'live connect' where you can reach out to an actual executive while you're looking at the car online.

 

Cosmetics:

Samplers and freebies have been a strong part of the retail experience. But, how many people will try on these anymore? So, there has to be contactless makeup journeys. We can see people try them out online and they'll be perfectly calibrated. 

 

Apparel:

People will be hesitant to try clothes and get into fitting rooms. Virtual tours of stores could help. Nike is using it in the US. They show sizes and put together a look for you. You're visiting a store without getting into crowded places. Retail stores will become experience units.

 

Grocery:

There has to be a contactless checkout. AmazonGo has started it, but we could get it in a scalable way in India. I think three months down the line you'll still want to go to stores and browse shelves, albeit it in a safe way. The product information found on a product could be found by scanning a label on it. Traffic in stores will also have to be controlled.

 

Rohit Ohri, group chairman and CEO, FCB India, said, “This lockdown period will change our world forever. When we emerge on the other side of this crisis, retail experiences will be redefined. Our research shows that shopper behaviour will dramatically change. Even though retail stores may be open, customers who shop there will not engage with the stores as they used to. Retail needs to urgently reinvent itself for the post-COVID world. We’re hoping that our Retail Day 1 initiative, we are able to help our clients rapidly build back their business” 

 

Attari said, “Project ‘Retail: Day 1’ will allow us to work closely with FCB, taking advantage of their deep expertise in brand and customer behaviour, to develop radical customer journeys, be it contactless automotive dealerships, virtual stores or even connected packaging and augmented reality.”